Currently, golf is an activity enjoyed by many people of all ages possessing varying degrees of athletic ability and musculoskeletal strength and endurance. Although it is possible to perform a golf swing without having excessive musculoskeletal support, greater bodily strength and endurance allows a golfer to hit a golf ball farther and with greater accuracy and consistency for the entirety of a complete round of golf.
Golf enthusiasts purchase a large amount of golf paraphernalia to improve their golf swing. However, these paraphernalia generally only provide stability to specific areas of the body of the golfer that are active in the golf swing.
Existing golf paraphernalia include devices to improve the grip of the golfer by preventing the wrist of the golfer from moving to a position other than what is pre-set by the device. Special gloves also exist to direct the golfer to place his or her hands on the shaft of the golf club correctly.
External devices are currently being marketed to help train the muscles of the golfer to move along a pre-determined path which is thought to be along an optimal golf swing path. These devices restrict the swing path of the golfer to a plane within which it is thought necessary to maintain the golf club throughout the golf swing. However, no resistance is supplied in the direction of rotation of the shoulders and upper torso, or the hips, of the golfer during performance of an exercise using an external device of this type. Further, these devices fail to train the golfer to progressively accelerate the golf club during the downswing.
Extendable golf club-like devices are currently being used which extend in response to centrifugal acceleration. During a practice golf swing of a golfer, the extendable device remains coiled during the first part of the golf swing if the golf swing is performed correctly, thus teaching a golfer to begin the downswing slowly. The device then becomes fully extended at the point of most rapid acceleration of the golf club, which should occur when the club face is in close proximity to a golf ball whose propulsion into the air is targeted as the object of the golf swing. The golfer is thus trained to accelerate the golf club at the proper time and along the correct swing path by the extension response of the device. Here, no resistance is provided and the golfer is not restrained to move along an optimal swing path.
In summary, existing golf devices either attach to the hands, wrists or other parts of the body of a golfer, or are held by the golfer, only to either train parts of the body of the golfer to maintain a correct orientation, restrain the golf swing of the golfer to a correct swing path, or train the golfer to accelerate at the proper point of the downswing. None of these devices actually provides resistance to optimally strengthen the muscles of the axial skeleton and lower extremities of the golfer which participate in the golf swing, while providing training to the golfer to accelerate properly and to maintain a proper orientation during the golf swing.